This paper identifies and analyzes racial themes in a pivotal scene (“The Battle Royal”) from Ralph Ellison’s 1952 book, Invisible Man. Argues that the actions in this scene symbolically depict the status of the Black man in America in the mid-twentieth century. Considers both the “invisibility” of the Black man in larger society, and the need for the Black man to conceal his true identity, to compromise and to make himself invisible in order to get along and get ahead in life. KEYWORDS: book review racial themes blacks Ellison invisible man battle royal. 5 pages, 9 footnotes, 6 bibliographic sources. 1,128 words.